SEC Head Coach Evaluation: LSU's Les Miles

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As already established, the biggest knock on Miles has always been that he has underachieved in the eyes of some. In addition to his underachievement, inept offense and poor clock management fall in closely behind for those in favor of a coaching change at LSU.

For time management issues, see the following:

Loss to Penn State in Florida Citrus Bowl:

LSU trailed by 2 and had already begun engineering a comeback drive. That is when it gets ugly. LSU had a first down, 42 seconds on the clock, and the ball inside Penn State territory. Instead of passing the ball outside to

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maximize his play number potential with no timeouts remaining, Miles directed a four yard pass in the middle of the field. Add in a penalty and one of the all-time worst hook-and-lateral attempts of all time, and there you have another botched opportunity by Miles.

2010 Lucky Victory against Tennessee:

In short, the Volunteers yanked defeat from the jaws of victory. The game had ended on a screwy Les Miles call. Tennessee gave them a second chance for having too many men on the field , however, and LSU remained unbeaten.

This list could go on in detail, but for time’s sake I’ll just leave these here:

2014 loss to Auburn-no timeout to score before halftime

2009 loss to Ole Miss-had QB spike the ball with one second instead of trying field goal inside the 10 (time expired)

If you are still interested, just search “Les Miles Time Management” and enjoy hours of comedy.

Coaching decisions like these have led more and more people to go from thinking of Les as the Mad Hatter to an out-of-touch grass eater. Or, a coach who made gutsy decisions that paid off to a guy that may not have a clue what is actually going on.

The other motivation for some to want to get rid of Les Miles is his inability to have a quality offense. The root of that problem lies in LSU’s inability to develop a quarterback. Multiple 4 and 5 star quarterbacks have been recruited to LSU, yet none have had a particularly strong career. LSU’s best quarterback during Miles’ tenure, Zach Mettenberger, originally enrolled at Georgia and was developed there. LSU’s lack of offense also likely cost the Tigers another National Championship.

LSU’s 2011 defense was historically good. The Tigers may have been blown out in the National Championship, but it was only after the Tigers held Alabama to 5 field goals before allowing a late touchdown that the game was out of reach. LSU barely sniffed midfield, much less the goal line. It was so bad that when LSU traveled to Alabama for a basketball game, Tide fans mockingly cheered when they passed half court.

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Losing to Nick Saban in that game also hurt Les Miles in the eyes of his detractors. The fact that Miles has not won a National Championship with mostly players he recruited will always be used to take away from his accomplishments. That is, until he is able to win one on his own. If he is able to win one on his own.

Under Miles, LSU has seen wild victories and devastating defeats due to his poor time management. The Tigers saw a historically good defense drag an offense to an undefeated season only to surrender in the National Championship. And Les Miles has yet to win the big one with his own players.

Somebody may need to grab a fire extinguisher soon if Miles puts up another 5 loss season in 2015.

Next: The Verdict

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SEC Head Coach Evaluation: LSU’s Les Miles

By John Richardson | Aug 11, 2015

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